Expect the Unexpected
by WhatBecomesOfYou
Summary: It's a summer-long power struggle for sixteen houseguests vying for a half-million dollar prize: or, Brandon and Callie do Big Brother, and find a little something more along the way. Eventual Brandon/Callie.
1. Day One: Entrance

**Author's Note**: _Big Brother is my other main summer show, and I've been watching old episodes recently, and watching both Big Brother and The Fosters tonight made me want to put the two together. You don't have to be a fan of Big Brother to read this fic; I will try and explain everything the best that I can within the story itself. Each chapter is a day in the Big Brother house, and will focus on Brandon and/or Callie throughout the day._

_Let me know what you think, and enjoy! :) _

* * *

Callie walked down the walkway with the other houseguests; she clenched her bag tightly in her hand and adjusted the strap on her shoulder. She would have never pictured herself doing a reality television show, of all things, but for the fact that her friend had cajoled her into applying. And somehow, here she was, about to enter the Big Brother house for hopefully the rest of the summer.

She flicked her eyes over the other houseguests as they moved into formation. There was an alternative-looking redhead, two blonde girls that looked nearly interchangeable, a black guy, a guy with a neatly trimmed beard and mustache, and then - what was _he_ doing here? She looked away, before her facial expression could expose anything. Brandon Foster. Her former foster brother, whom she hadn't seen in almost four years, was standing right behind her, a matching bag on his shoulder. She hoped he didn't notice her.

"Houseguests, welcome to Big Brother 22 - a summer-long power struggle is about to begin. When I call your name, you may enter the house and claim your bed," Julie Chen said to them over the screen. "Adam, Ginny, Lauren and Brandon, you may enter the Big Brother house."

* * *

Brandon walked through the door and pumped his fist, as Ginny let out a scream and Adam waved his hands in the air. It was kind of awesome being one of the first four people to enter the Big Brother house, and be among the first to take in the design choices the team had made that year. There was a giant outline map of the world on the wall.

"Guys, the Japanese bedroom is _so cool_!" Lauren said, running out from where she had thrown her bag down. "It looks like they're representing different countries."

Brandon went into the room Lauren had just left to check it out. The painted cherry blossoms on the wall were perhaps a tad too pink for his liking, but it was a cool room. Definitely very serene, and he liked the little automated babbling brook along one wall. "What the heck," he muttered under his breath as he threw his bag down on the bed next to Lauren's, and walked back out into the main living area. "I'm Brandon, by the way, if Julie didn't make it obvious out there," he said, shaking the other guy's - Adam, by process of elimination - hand.

"Dude, don't sweat the intros right now," Adam said, laughing and slapping Brandon's back, "we're going to get to talk all about ourselves with a little bubbly in a bit, once the others get in here and find their beds and shit."

"Okay, cool," he said, watching as the second group came in from outside. The energy in the house tonight was almost electric in its composition.

* * *

Callie was one of the last four left standing outside. Everyone else had gotten to go in - Julie had listed off the names: Cierra, Denzel, Jarrett, Evan, Terance, Rebekah, Andriana, Joy. It was just her, an eerily pale girl with extremely dark hair, a blond all-American looking guy, and the girl's slightly more pigmented counterpart. "Lynn, Zachary, Liam and Callie, you may now enter the Big Brother house."

She walked through the doors with a smile. She wasn't going to whoop and holler like Liam was doing, and the others had done. Oh, she was probably going to make for very boring television at this rate, and she hadn't even put her bag down yet. "I hope we can find beds," she said to the girl - Lynn, she believed her name was.

"Yeah, well, if we don't, I guess we just end up sleeping on dirt in the backyard," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "You never know with Big Brother."

Turned out, the only beds left were to share with another person, in the Caribbean beach resort-esque bedroom. "Mind if I share with you?" she asked a brunette girl sitting on one of the beds. "It...doesn't really look like I have other options right now."

"Sure, yeah, hey," she said, patting the bed next to her. "I'm Joy, by the way."

"Callie."

"Cool to meet you, Callie."

"We're opening up champagne in the living room if everyone wants to join us!" an impossibly tall woman said, yelling into the room.

Callie and Joy exchanged looks. "You wanna go?" Callie said. "Because we could just blow that joint and sit here and get to know each other." The thought of sitting just across a coffee table from Brandon was too much. She was doing this to get out of her shell, live a little more on the edge. Not to face old things that she thought were long since buried.

"We should probably go. They'd wonder about us. C'mon."

* * *

The impossibly tall woman's name was Andriana, the alternative redhead was Rebekah - "Becks," she said, with a drawn out accent, "but if you _insist_, I'm Rebekah" - and the others went around introducing themselves. And then it came around to Brandon. "I'm Brandon, 21, from San Diego, and I'm a musician," he said, toasting his glass of champagne in the air.

"What kind of music do you play?" one of the blondes - Ginny, they'd learned - asked, leaning over toward him and smiling up at him.

"Mostly piano, but I know some guitar too."

Everyone nodded and smiled, and the introductions continued on - Denzel, the accountant and Lynn, the economist from Ohio and Cierra from Kentucky - until it got around to Callie. "Uh, hi, I'm Callie, I'm 21, I'm from Ventura, California, and I'm a freelance photographer."

"Very cool," Brandon said, and Callie had to bite her lip to hide the smile that threatened to form on her face. This was going to get interesting, fast.

* * *

**Brandon (diary room)**: I'd know that girl anywhere. I haven't seen her in so long, but seeing her makes me feel like I'm 16 again. In a good way. Callie. I've missed her.

**Callie (diary room)**: I'm still not sure how I feel about Brandon being here. He hasn't changed a bit, that's for sure. Are we the only ones that know each other? Or is this the twist of the summer?

* * *

They were beckoned out to the backyard for the first Head of Household competition. Sixteen globes were hanging from a suspension bridge above. "Your first Head of Household competition is simple. You will hold your globe on your back. When your globe falls off, you are out of the competition. The last person left standing will win Head of Household, get their own private bedroom, and nominate two people for eviction."

Callie chose a globe on the opposite side of the backyard from where Brandon's was, and positioned the globe on her back. "Ready...go!"

The globes were slippery, and round, and hard to hold onto. But she cupped her hands against the side of the globe and tried to make the best of it. She felt like Atlas, holding the whole world on her shoulders. She knew that if she won this, that an early target would be placed on her back, and she'd have to create enemies so fast. But at the same time, she'd be safe, and she could always make the really safe nominations. Someone always rubbed someone else the wrong way the first week. Always happened.

A few people fell out of the competition, and moved to the sidelines to finish watching. She looked around. She'd made it not quite halfway through, and it had been about forty-five minutes; her arms and back were beginning to kill her, and she didn't really want the power. Not this week, anyway, let someone else get first blood on their hands. Good of a time as any. She let the globe slide off her back and she stretched her back up. God, it felt good to be out.

"Callie, you are out of the competition."

Moving over to the sidelines, she sat down next to Joy. "Who do you think's going to win?" Joy asked. "I was cheering for you, if only because I'd get the bed to myself this week."

"Ha," Callie said, with a laugh, "I'm thinking it might be Evan. Or Brandon."

"He's kind of cute, isn't he?" Joy said. "Brandon, I mean. He has that whole tortured musician thing going on."

"Yeah. He is." Callie nodded and turned around just in time to see Brandon's globe slide off his back. "I guess he's not."

* * *

Lauren, one of the "interchangeable blondes" from outside, won the first Head of Household. As she swung the key around her neck and giggle, Callie had to stifle a groan. With her luck, this Lauren girl would be looking to target the other girls and keep around the guys as her arm candy. And she was clearly out of place among the girls. She saw Rebekah - _Becks_, she mentally amended - out of the corner of her eye. Okay, maybe she wasn't totally out of place.

The houseguests walked inside the house and went to the bathrooms to get cleaned up - there had been blue dye squirted on them during the competition, and they all looked a little bit like Smurfs. Some had gotten it worse than others. Lauren pulled her aside outside of the bathroom. "Storage room, fifteen minutes," she said, in a hushed whisper between gritted teeth.

Callie kind of wondered how she was supposed to tell when fifteen minutes was up, when there were no clocks or watches in the house, but she nodded anyway. "Okay."

"Bring your bedmate." And like that, Lauren was off to the showers, leaving Callie behind in a ball of confusion. She could get Joy to come, she was sure, but she wasn't sure what this was all about. Some sort of secret talk?

* * *

Brandon went into the storage room and made sure that the door shut behind him. Lauren had told him to meet her there, and he wasn't sure who else would be coming. No one else was there yet - apparently his estimation of fifteen minutes was either more conservative than accurate, or the others were too generous in their guesses.

The door cracked open, and Joy and Callie slipped in, quickly followed by Adam. "Hey, did Lauren tell you to come here?" Adam asked. "Because it was kind of weird, man, like, she was being all hush-hush and whispery and we don't need this on the first night."

The other three nodded, and then, almost as if on cue, Lauren came in and stood against the door. "Okay, so you're probably all wondering why I brought you in here."

"Yeah, just a little," Callie said. "You're Head of Household, shouldn't you be out there mingling with everyone?"

"If I wanted people to come kiss my ass, I'd do that. But I don't. I like you four the best, and you all did well in the competition - or somewhat. So I was thinking, we all look out for each other. I won't nominate any of y'all this week, and y'all won't nominate me if you win next week, and we're good with that?" Each of them nodded, and she grinned. "Great! We should have an alliance name."

"What about Full House?" Adam said. "A full house is three of one, two of another, and there's three girls and two guys in this alliance."

"I like it," Brandon said. "Reminds me of playing Yahtzee with my moms."

"So it's settled? We're Full House?" Lauren said. "Oh, this is so exciting! A first night alliance!" They joined in a group hug, and Callie looked up at Brandon, who was looking straight at her. She could only smile.

* * *

**Callie (diary room)**: So I got roped into an alliance with Lauren and Adam and Brandon and Joy, and we're calling ourselves Full House. You can't say no to the Head of Household when they propose an alliance with you, that's just stupid. And...Brandon's involved. So I guess I'm happy.

* * *

As they drifted off to sleep the first night, the excitement dying down, Callie hugged her pillow tightly and listened to the sound of the pre-recorded ocean waves that were piped into the room. "Good night," Joy said, "sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite."

"If there's any bed bugs in this bed, they're biting your butt too," Callie said, closing her eyes and willing herself to go to sleep. This would not do, if Joy was a bedtime talker, because she was a bedtime sleeper. Not that she'd ever shared a bed with anyone who wasn't family, but she might just have to try to win Head of Household at this rate. Just to get a bed to herself again.

**End Day 1.**


	2. Day Two: Homesick

**Author's Note**: _The chapters will vary greatly in length - some days will be shorter, like this one (because I figure there's little interest in the other people except in how they relate to Brandon and/or Callie - if I'm wrong on this, please let me know), and others will be longer, either when more happens in the house or when more happens between Brandon/Callie. Continue to let me know what you think!_

* * *

Finding time to have a conversation alone with Callie, in the Big Brother house, with fourteen other houseguests keen to overanalyze their every move, was proving to be quite difficult for Brandon. It was midway through Day 2, and the closest he'd gotten to talking to her alone was as she fixed herself a turkey sandwich in the kitchen. Catch was, Jarrett, Ginny and Andriana were right there as well, and this was _not_ a conversation he wanted to have in tandem with one about Andriana's boyfriend's stints in rehab.

He sidled himself into position and whispered to her, "can we talk?"

She turned around, cup in hand, and smiled at him. "Maybe later, the four of us are going to shoot some pool."

"I didn't know you played pool."

"Well, I didn't know you'd be here, so there's that too." She moved on past him, walking toward the sliding door that led to the patio. "There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Brandon."

He stared at the memory wall after the foursome left, where all their smiling faces stared back at him, and sulked. Callie's face looked down on him.

Of course, _now_ would be the time when no one else would be around. And then Lynn rounded the corner from the living room. "Hey, you want to come in here? A few of us were thinking about doing a game of charades, and we need another if we want to do teams of three."

He peeked around the corner. It was Lynn, Zachary, Terance, Lauren and Cierra. Not the people he was most wanting to spend time with, but it'd do. For now. "Sure," he said, sitting down on the couch next to Cierra and Zachary. "Why not."

* * *

"So what was that thing with you and Brandon about in there?" Jarrett asked out at the pool table, as he lined up a shot. "Because he seemed weirdly intense and you were like 'back the hell off me, bro.'"

"I don't even know," Callie admitted, even though she knew as she said that she was lying. She knew what it was about, all too well, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to have that conversation yet or not. "We haven't talked yet." Which they had, she supposed, with the other members of Full House the night before, but she also supposed that Brandon wasn't counting that. Neither was she.

"I'd suggest pepper spray if you do," Ginny offered. "Or maybe a nice ladle across the face would do the trick."

"I'm _not_ going to smack Brandon with kitchen utensils," Callie said, shaking her head and putting her cup down to pick up the cue stick. "That'd get me kicked out the house, for one. And I know what it's like being kicked out of houses. No fun."

"Your parents throw you out?" Andriana asked. "'Cause, girl, gotta tell you, I would have pegged Rebekah - sorry, _Becks_ - as Most Likely to Have a Juvie Record."

"Oh, I have one of those too, but I was a foster kid. Both me and my brother. He's the only one I can really trust," she said. "Been through a lot of homes together, him and me." She hit the cue ball and watched as it spun toward the seven ball.

The others around the pool table nod their heads, almost as if they don't know what to say to that. "You're a tough girl, Callie," Andriana said. "How long?"

"Eight years. Your shot, Ginny."

"How many homes?" Ginny stepped up to take her shot. "Like, I can't imagine living with anyone but my mom and dad."

"I lost count after I was twelve. Stayed at one home for almost a year, but then things got really weird there and we had to leave. Out of the system six months later, and here I am."

"At least you're not like, homeless or a drug addict, or something," Jarrett said. "Because that would really suck, you know? Unless you being a photographer is a cover or something."

"No, it's really what I do. Promise." She hated being the topic of conversation - she wanted to deflect it onto something else, something that wasn't related to her, or to Brandon - which could easily get back to her. "So, what about Becks, anyway? Has anyone seen her move from the hammock all day?"

The other three look amongst each other. "No, nope," they said in unison. "Wonder what's up with her," Jarrett continued.

"Maybe she's feeling sick," Andriana said.

"Or homesick!" Ginny chimed in. "I miss my puppy already."

Diversion: successful.

* * *

**Callie (diary room)**: So I told a few of the houseguests that I was a foster kid today. Hopefully they don't figure out that Brandon grew up in a house with foster kids or our secret past may be revealed. ...Crap.

**Brandon (diary room)**: Do I smell bad? Did I accidentally offend her with 'very cool'? Is it just my imagination? Or is Callie avoiding me? ...She can't avoid me forever, can she? We _are_ allies, after all... I think I'm overthinking this. I hope.

**End of Day 2**.


	3. Day Three: Fettuccine

**Author's Note**: _Okay, for those of you who are Big Brother fans: I know that the first "week" is more like two weeks. But for the sake of keeping this story moving along_ _and not boring everyone to death, I'm shortening that to closer to an actual week._

* * *

"It's time for the first Have/Have-Not competition of the summer!" Lauren called out. "Let's draw bandanas for teams and go out to the backyard." She held out a cloth bag; Callie reached in and grabbed out a blue bandana, just in time to see Brandon wrapping another blue one around his forehead. Great. They were teammates.

If they lost the competition, they'd have to sleep in the Have-Not bedroom - where she imagined there were some insanely uncomfortable or painful beds. She remembered one year when they were airline seats, and another where every bed was at a slope. And they'd also have to eat Big Brother slop and take cold showers. All for the next week. Things that no Big Brother houseguest would ever want to experience, and especially not her. At least she could deal with the cold showers if she had to. She was kind of used to those.

They walked out to the backyard, where a giant inflatable pool of letters sat in front of them, with colored racks matching their bandanas off to the side - blue, green and red. She looked around at who else was on her team: her and Brandon, of course, and then Ginny, Terance and Liam. It looked like a good team, even if she wasn't really sure how much of a competitor Terance was. Especially considering he had been the first one out of the Head of Household competition, and he didn't really seem to have the best attitude about things.

"You will dive into this large pool of letters and retrieve letters to spell out food items on your racks. Whatever each team spells out _correctly_ will earn the entire house that food item for the week. The two teams that spell the most items in ten minutes will be the ones to eat the food that all three teams earned. Houseguests, are you ready?" Lauren read off the card. "As Head of Household, I will not be participating in this food competition."

Everyone nodded, and Lauren started the timer. Ten minutes to spell their diet for the week.

When Callie made her first dive, after Liam had spelled **BEER** and Ginny spelled **APPLE**, she rummaged around for the letters to make **PIZZA**. She found one Z and all the other letters; she just couldn't find the second Z for the life of her. "Hurry it up, bitch," she heard Terance call from the sideline. "I don't want to starve for a week because some prissy little California bitch wants to eat fettuccine alfredo tonight."

It _almost _made her want to search for the letters to spell it out just to spite him, but she wasn't exactly sure how to spell fettuccine, so she passed on the idea. She rushed by Zachary in the pool, and tripped over his foot trying to reach what looked like it could be the second Z she needed, planting herself face first in the muck. Whatever the substance was in the pool, it was nasty and foul, and tasted much like what she imagined burned liquid rubber would taste like. And she was right. It was the second Z. She placed the letters up on the board and got the answer accepted, as Brandon dove in.

* * *

Brandon could have almost punched Terance. Except for the fact that physical altercations were so extremely frowned upon in the house, and he didn't want to be kicked out for defending Callie from this bully's remarks. The last thing Callie was was prissy or a bitch, he thought - Ginny was definitely prissier than Callie, and that was just on their team alone.

Instead, he opened and closed his hand in a tight, balled fist, and imagined the calming waves beating against the shore of his favorite beach back home. He imagined playing his piano. And then, he was calm again.

Callie finally spelled **PIZZA** - so _that_ was what was taking her so long, needing two Zs - and he dove in, looking for the letters for **TACO**. Might as well get a little easy-to-spell multiculturalism in this house's diet.

* * *

At the end of ten minutes, everyone was covered in the slime, and their food items were tallied up on the board. There was plenty of alcohol, of course, but also plenty of other things - the two teams that won would be eating like kings. There was even filet mignon, courtesy of the red team.

"In first place is...the red team, with 16 food items!" Lauren said, and the red bandanas danced around cheering. Terance glowered in Callie's general direction, and Callie paid stoic attention to Lauren's every word. "And in second, with 14 food items, the blue team! Sorry, green team, that means that you're Have-Nots for the week." Lynn threw her arms down in an exaggerated pout, and Callie had to bite back a smile. At least it meant that two of the more obnoxious people - Lynn and Zachary - were Have-Nots. Even though she could only imagine how much _more _obnoxious they would be once on the slop diet.

And she'd get to have nice, warm showers after all.

* * *

Full House met up in the Head of Household bedroom. "Nominations are tomorrow morning," Lauren said. "Anyone have any strong feelings about who should go up?"

"Well, I can tell you that I'm _not_ Terance's biggest fan after today," Brandon said. "Calling Callie a prissy bitch during the Have-Not competition was -"

"Yeah, that kind of rubbed me the wrong way too," Joy said. "Like, don't be a jerk about it, it's not like Callie was throwing the competition or anything."

"I was tempted to try to spell it, just to spite him," Callie replied. "But I don't know how to spell fettuccine."

"**FETTUCCINE**. If we ever have a competition like that again and you want to stick it to him," Lauren said. "Sorry, I spent my summers off from college working at an Olive Garden. I know way more about pasta than most southern girls know about soul food."

"It's cool, thanks," Callie said, lounging back into a pillow and playing with the fringe.

"And next to Terance - he seems to be awfully friendly with Lynn and Zachary. I never see him without one or both of them. It's kind of creepy," Joy supplied. "Like, Zach seems like he could be a cool guy, maybe -"

"But Terance and Lynn are toxic, I agree," Lauren said. "They really need to be the first two to go. Should I just put them up next to each other?"

"Isn't that showing our hand a little too early?" Brandon asked. "If we're going to put two of them next to each other, I would rather not call those two out as the absolute worst."

"So Zach next to Terance? That work for y'all?" Lauren asked. As the other four all nodded their heads in unison, she grinned. "Okay, well, I'm going to go fix myself some of Adam's hard-earned chicken, anyone who wants to join me is more than welcome to."

"That sounds good," Adam said, and Joy stood up with them. "You two not coming?"

"I'm just going to stay here," Brandon said.

"Yeah, me too," Callie said.

As the other three left the room, Callie turned to Brandon. "It's nice that you wanted to put Terance up on the block for what he said about me," she said. "Even if you really didn't need to say that."

"He's been horrible to everyone," Brandon said. "You should have heard the slurs he was throwing at Jarrett last night."

"I think I'm glad I didn't." Jarrett and Jude had one big thing in common, and it made her uncontrollably defensive whenever someone used any of the slurs she knew were in use. It was one of the easiest ways to make her the angriest. "Glad to know I'm not his only victim, though."

"You realize this is the first chance we've gotten to be alone since we got here?" Brandon asked. "I didn't think you wanted to be alone with me."

"I was more surprised than anything to see you here."

"As was I." Brandon scooted closer to her on the couch. "I honestly thought, that day when you and Jude pulled out of the driveway for the last time, that it would be the last time I ever saw you."

"I did too."

"So you moved to Los Angeles? Ventura, right?"

"Yeah, I moved up there with Wyatt after I turned eighteen and left the system, but that relationship went pretty far south a short time later. Liked the area, so I stayed."

Brandon bit his lip. Remembering Wyatt was something he didn't like to remember, not in the least. "What about Jude?"

"He's dating some guy - Connor, I think his name is? - that we met while living with you. Still living in San Diego, I see him about once a month or so."

"I always kind of wondered about that."

"Yeah, it was something I wasn't surprised about at all when he told me. I was more happy that he told me when he did and didn't keep it some big secret for very long."

"Callie?"

"Yeah?"

"I missed you." It was short, simple, to the point, and said everything he'd been wanting to say to her since he saw her walk through those doors. Hell, he'd been wanting to say it since he was seventeen and saw her be driven away for the last time.

"I do too."

"I guess we get to start over here in the Big Brother house, though, right?" he said. "You're not my foster sister anymore, and I'm not your foster brother. We're just two twenty-one year-olds being watched by America all day, every day, and playing this crazy game for money."

"That's right, we're not sixteen anymore," she said. "We're not sixteen, we're not held to the obligations we once were."

"Exactly."

"When I was sixteen, I could have seen myself falling in love with you," she said, exhaling sharply. "It was so hard to live with you, knowing that, and then the social worker misinterpreted, and -"

"I know," he said. "I had a _major_ crush on you when I was sixteen."

"All those long nights of you playing your keyboard?"

"Sexual frustration."

"Guess I should have seen _that_ one coming," Callie said, laughing and running her hand through her hair. "Brandon - I don't just want to get in a showmance and then we never speak again after the show's over."

"If we did, there would be nothing 'show' about it," he said. "It would be 100% real, on my end at least."

"And on mine."

The door to the Head of Household bedroom swung open, and Lauren came running inside, holding a cup of liquid close to her chest and shoving the door closed. "There's a big fight going on downstairs between Terance and Andriana. I had to get away. I think hair's being pulled."

"Terance's or Andriana's?" Callie asked.

"Both?"

Callie and Brandon exchanged a look of sadness. Not because of the fight - neither of them were allies, and in fact, Terance was their number one target - but because their little moment had been so cruelly interrupted, just as it was about to get good.

It really _was_ like they were sixteen again, except minus the most immediate and dire consequences.

**End of Day 3**.

* * *

**Author's Note**: _Now that Brandon and Callie have actually had a chance to talk (somewhat), I'd love to hear your thoughts!_


End file.
